Converter arrangement for suction cleaners



March 31, 1953 E. R. SWANN 2,632,913

' CONVERTER ARRANGEMENT FOR sucnou CLEANERS Filed May 20, 1950 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOH.

Edward R. Swann ATTORNEY.

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E R SWANN CONVERTER ARRANGEMENT FOR SUCTION CLEANERS Fig 2 March 31,1953 Filed May 20, 1950 Patented Mar. 31, 1953 "PATENT OFFICE ooNvEnrEnARRANGEMENT Fon SUCTION CLEANERS means It. swam, North Canton, Ohio,assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio,

a corporation of Ohio Ki mication Ma 20, 1950, Serial No. 163,258

5 Claims. (Cl. 15-'-324) This invention relates to suction cleaners andmore particularly to a converter arrangement for converting the. cleanerfrom on-the-floor cleaning to off-the-fioor cleaning operation.

when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a suction cleaner showing the presentinvention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the converter opening showing theconverter in place;

and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the inner end of the converter tool.

Referring to the drawings, the main body or chassis it is mounted forambulatory movement on front and rear wheels H and 12 respectively andis formed with a downwardly facing nozzle l3 with a bumper M of rubberor other resilient materialsuitably secured about the sides and frontthereof.

A casing 15, having a motor-fan unit therein, extends transversely ofthe body Ill and is pivoted thereto on a horizontal axis by trunnionbearings similar to the manner shown in the patent to Burkhardt2,225,621 dated December 24, 1940. Rigid with the casing I5 is anexhaust nozzle It and a handle socket IT. The exhaust nozzle 16detachably receives the open lower end of a filter bag It the upper endof which is supported from the handle Ill.

The casing l5 and the body ID are formed with a fan eye'Zfi openingthrough one of the trunnions into a suction passageway 2! formed in thebody it and extending forwardly and downwardly to the suction nozzle l3.An agitator not shown) of any suitable construction is rotatably mountedin the nozzle IS in a position to contact the surface covering as it isdrawn up- Wardlyjagainst the nozzle It by the suction created by thefan. A pulley 22 formed as an extensi n n the fan sha t e tends throughthe 2 fan eye 29 into the suction passageway 21 and drives the'belt 23which in turn drives the agita tor. The lower side of the suctionpassageway 2| is closed by aremovable closure plate 24 to provide accessto the belt and pulley. An appearance hood 25 is mounted on top of thebody It and extends from the rear thereof along the sides of the casing15 and forwardly therefrom so as to form a housing above and to the rearof the nozzle l3. A headlight 26 is located in the housing centrallythereof and to one side thereof at the end above. the suction passageway2| is a converter receiving tube 21 which opens into the top of thesuction passageway 2l and slopes downwardly and rearwardly as shown.

The tube 21 detachably receives the lower end of a converter tool 28having its forward end cut away to form a rearwardly facing opening 29.The belt 23 lies close to the inner wall of the suction passageway 2|and the tool 28 is recessed at 30 to receive the belt. The lower end ofthe converter tool is of such shape and size as to close oil theremainder of the suction passageway except for the recess 30 whichreceives the belt 23. A latch 3| carried by the tool 28 snaps into anopening 32 in the outside wall of the tube 21 to latch the tool inplace. The latch may be released by pressing inwardly on its handle 33.

The converter receiving tube 2'! and the housing which receives theheadlight is closed by a combined converter opening closure, lamphousing door and furniture guard generally indicated by the referencenumeral 35. The member 35 is pivoted to the body In at 36 and is adaptedto be held either in its open or closed position by a fiat spring 31.The member 35 is provided with louvers 38 in its front forwardly of thelight 26 so that light rays may be projected forwardly onto the surfaceto be cleaned. A soft furniture guard 39 of rubber, thermoplastic orother suitable material is secured to the member 35 along its ends andtop so that furniture, etc., will not be marred when the cleaner ispushed beneath it. On its inner side the member 35 is provided with aninwardly offset closure MI which fits over the mouth of the converterreceiving tube 21 when the member 35 is moved to its closed position andforms a sort of guide for guiding the converter tool 28 into theconverter receiving opening 21 when the member 35 is in its openposition.

From the foregoing it can be seen that this invention provides a simpleconstruction whereby 1 the converter tool can be easily inserted fromthe top front of the cleaner by a simple downwardly rearward movementthereof and latched in position whereby the cleaner may be pulled aboutby pulling on a hose attached to the upper end of the converter tool.

While I have shown but a single embodiment of my invention it is to beunderstood that this embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only andnot in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to the particularstructure shown and described but to include all equivalent variationsthereof except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A suction cleaner comprising, a body mounted for ambulatory movement,a motor-fan unit including a casing extending transversely across saidbody on a horizontal axis and having a fan eye at one end thereof, saidbody'being' formed with a downwardly facing suction nozzle and a suctionpassageway extending upwardly and rearwardly from said nozzle to saidfan eye at one end of said body, a converter receiving tubecommunicating with said suction passageway through the top Wall thereofadjacent one end of said body and sloping downwardly and rearwardly intosaid suction passageway, a light mounted on said body centrally thereofto one side of and in line with said converter receiving tubetransversely of said body, a housing extending transversely across saidbody above said light and converter receiving tube and having a frontopening, and a closure for said opening in front of said light and saidconverter receiving tube.

4 which said housing is formed by a horizontal forwardly openingstreamlined appearance hood and said closure forms a continuation ofsaid streamlined appearance hood.

3. A suction cleaner according to claim 2 in which said closure ispivoted to said body so as to lie on said body in. front of saidappearance hood when it is in its open position.

4. A suction cleaner according to claim 3 in which said closure isprovided with an inward offset portion which lies against the mouth ofsaid converter receiving tube when said closure is closed and forms aguide for guiding a converter tool into said converter receiving tubewhen said closure is open.

5. A suction cleaner according to claim 3 including spring means forholding said closure bothin its open and closed positions.

EDWARD R. SWANN.

- UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,017,937 Becker Oct. 22, 19352,221,746 7 Kirby Nov. 12, 1940' 2,314,334 Frantz Mar. 23, 19432,337,936 Sellers Dec. 28, 1943 2,340,347 Severance Feb. 1, 19442,355,183 Snyder Aug. 8, 1944 2,517,670 Humphrey Aug. 8, 1950

